NetApp: AI and Dark Data in Sustainable Manufacturing
NetApp is set to make waves within the manufacturing industry.
At Sustainability LIVE: Climate Week NYC, the company's CSO Nicola Acutt will deliver a keynote on 'Sustainability’s Missing Stakeholder', offering a fresh perspective essential for integrating environmental strategies into operations.
The event, scheduled for 22 September at Convene on Madison Avenue, New York City, will bring together hundreds top sustainability executives, including those from the manufacturing sector, to discuss the pivotal role of digital transformation and sustainability in industrial operations.
Other industry leaders speaking at the event include Jim Andrew from PepsiCo, Ellen Jackowski from Mastercard, Subhagata Mukherjee from Nokia and Capgemini’s Sol Salinas.
Nicola will take part in the Route to Net Zero Panel.
Insights from NetApp’s first CSO
Since joining NetApp in June 2024 as its first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, Nicola Acutt has leveraged her extensive experience to herald new strategies for manufacturing sustainability.
Her responsibilities include overseeing the company’s decarbonisation efforts, an area of vital importance for manufacturing industries dealing with extensive supply chains and high energy use. She collaborates closely with the engineering department to develop sustainable approaches to intelligent data infrastructure, an area of growing concern as digital manufacturing becomes more prevalent.
Speaking to Sustainability Magazine this year, Nicola said: “I like to say I was doing this before there was a thing called a chief sustainability officer job in companies.”
Nicola’s role includes setting strategy and operationalising sustainability across the business.
She says: “That includes the operational footprint as well as setting strategy around where we go from a product innovation perspective.”
Nicola, who placed at no. 99 in Sustainability Magazine’s Top 250 Women in Sustainability, adds: “The third piece is working in partnership with the engineering organisation to build the most sustainable approach to intelligent data infrastructure.”
She says the “holy grail” is integrating sustainability into the rhythms of the business.
The role of NetApp in digital manufacturing
NetApp offers crucial support to the manufacturing sector through its data infrastructure solutions, which include unified data storage, integrated data services and cloud operations.
Nicola says: “The way I describe that to my family is to think about NetApp as providing the digital infrastructure, the roads and bridges and reservoirs for the modern digital world.”
In manufacturing, managing vast amounts of data efficiently can streamline operations and cut costs, two critical factors for maintaining competitiveness.
NetApp’s solutions enable businesses to do this sustainably and securely, reducing data-related energy consumption.
Addressing the dark data challenge
The rise of AI in manufacturing is leading to increased energy demands, a concern that Nicola Acutt is keenly aware of.
A key issue is the concept of “dark data” – data generated but never utilised again.
Nicola says: “More than two thirds of data that is created is never used again.”
This resource-intensive approach necessitates a strategic overhaul in how manufacturers manage data.
Nicola foresees an “acceleration” in sustainability efforts.
She adds: “The solutions that we have today, if deployed at scale now, while we are building towards this AI future, are critical to bringing down that energy demand curve.”
Themes at Sustainability LIVE: Climate Week NYC 2025
With a focus on climate leadership, innovation and measurable impact, Sustainability LIVE: Climate Week NYC 2025 will cover core themes including:
- Net zero strategies and Scope 3 reduction
- Decarbonisation of supply chains
- Climate finance and green investment
- Circular economy models and material innovation
- Climate-tech and AI for sustainability
Sustainability LIVE is designed to foster insight-sharing and collaboration, and those attending will gain practical takeaways for climate action, alongside access to some of the most impactful voices in the global sustainability space.
